Life is Temporary, Love is Forever
by Akira Darely
Summary: Ok. I really suck at summaries... But spoiler alert if you haven't seen past episode 84 in Shippuuden.   Azami lost her family in the Third Great Ninja War. Itachi killed his. When these two meet, can they forget their sorrows and more on? NO FLAMES PLZ!


**Hey! Just a one shot for now, unless I leave it open ended or you want a sequel or whatever, but I hope you like it!**

**Pairing: Itachi/OC**

**Point of View: Third**

**Universe: Uh… Normal I guess.**

**Time: Right after he became a missing nin**

**Background on OC: **Her name is Tanaka Azami, or in English Azami Tanaka. She lives in a non-nin town a good two days walk from Konoha. She has no family because of the Third Great Ninja War, and she teaches at the kids' school for money. She has dark rusty red hair, dark blue eyes, and pale skin. (Not as pale as Sai's cause that's scary pale!) She's a bit of an emotional mess, but she lives on. She's two years older than Itachi. PS… I realize that she's kind of a Mary Sue. Don't harp me about it, okay?

**That's all I'll give you for right now!**

**PS- this is my first story that's not in first point of view, so I'm sorry if it's bad! If you know me, and think I can write this better in first point of view, then be sure to message or review telling me! I only want the best I can do out there ;P**

Azami walked down the street to her beat up home, when she spotted a boy about her age stopped at the entrance to the town.

Looking at him, she found herself wondering what he was doing here all alone, and at this time of night looking so beat up. The days had been hard on him, so it seemed, and a sense of sadness clouded his aura.

"Hello! Excuse me, sir!"

Azami shouted, tripping over her feet as she tried to catch the boy who had been staring at the entrance.

"Sir! Do you need a place to stay?"

She shouted to the boys retreating figure, smiling as he came to a halt. Turning around to face her, the boy stared at her in wonder.

"Are you speaking to me?"

Azami nodded, trying to put on a smile despite the boy's guarded stance and words.

"Yeah! It looks as though it's getting ready to rain soon, and you don't look like you're from around here… I just wanted to know whether you had a place to go when the clouds finally let go."

The boy looked at her hard for a few minutes, staring as though he didn't understand whether this was illusion or reality.

'Is this girl serious? All the towns I've been through, all the people I've passed. Not a single one of them has actually spoken a word to me.'

Azami extended her hand to the aloof boy.

"I'm Azami. I live about a minute's walk from here, so why don't you come with me so you're not stuck in the rain."

The boy stared at the hand for a moment or two before finally taking it.

"Itachi."

Smiling, Azami shook his hand before beginning the trek to her house.

"Well, Itachi, sorry it's not much, but it should be enough until the storm passes."

"Hn."

Itachi followed Azami back to her house, and slightly winced when they arrived. It looked as though it had been a grand house at one point in time, but the surrounding terrain and abandoned house wasn't something to be proud of.

The trees were burned to a crisp. Grass refused to grow in some places, but weeds seemed to grow up to your knees in other. But that was nothing compared to the house. A majority of it was crumbling to the ground, and even more of it looked as though it had been through a fire. It was a sad place, this house, this town, and Itachi wasn't even sure if he wanted to know what Azami had endured to come to live here.

"This is where I live. Can I get you something to eat?"

Azami asked as she took Itachi around to the back of the house where the servants' quarters had once resided, now Azami's home.

"I'm fine."

Opening the door to her home, she sighed. After taking her shoes off, she continued to the kitchen and put away the newly bought groceries.

"Itachi! You can make yourself at home, okay?"

"Hn."

Itachi wandered around the house, looking at the odds and ends that had been collected in her house as he tried to forget the terrible mission that had been carried out only two days ago. The look on his younger brother was ingrained in his brain, and he would never forget that his brother would grow up hating him. Resenting him. Wanting to kill him… But he knew that it was all for the better. This way his little brother, Sasuke wouldn't be treated as the others were, and might have a better life than Itachi.

Though, Itachi knew that it was for the better, he couldn't help the tears that seemed to drip down his face, having a mind of their own.

"Itachi?"

Itachi whirled around to see Azami staring at his tear stained face with worry.

"Is there something you need?"

Itachi shook his head, wondering what quick lie he could tell this girl.

"Just the after affects of the war."

Azami seemed to take Itachi's half lie, and didn't bother him any more. Instead she walked over to him and took his hand.

"Come. You need to eat something. You're already too thin as it is."

Itachi was bewildered by the girl's forwardness as she brought him into the kitchen.

"I know I'm not the best cook, but I can make a few things. I've got water boiling on the stove for some tea, and I'm working on a stew… You're not a vegetarian or vegan are you?"

"No."

Azami smiled and proceeded to cut up some vegetables, occasionally stopping to stir the broth that she already had going.

"Good. There's going to be some beef in this, and I just wanted to make sure."

"Hn."

Azami turned to look at the boy she had brought in, leaning back on the counter as she watched him sit stiffly in the chair.

"You're not alone Itachi. I had to deal with some pretty harsh after affects too when war finally ended."

Itachi looked up at Azami. She held a look of sadness, her happy demeanor suddenly gone, replaced by a look of longing and depression.

"My parents and baby sister were killed because our town got in the way of the cross fire of two of the great clans… Our house was burned to a crisp as you saw, and we lost three fourths of the towns people."

A tear escaped Azami's eyes before she turned back around to get chopping and put on another happy face.

"But I just deal with the fact that I was spared, and I try to make the best of it… I feel that the Kami have a reason for having me survive, and whatever that is, I won't spend it lingering on the past or what could be."

Itachi stared at the girl's back, surprised that someone so young could think like that. It was surprising that someone could think of the world in such a way.

"My family wasn't killed in the war, although I was four towards the end of it… Our clan had many things wrong with it, and in time, they began to distrust the leader of our village, claiming that they had no need for us… claiming that we needed to revolt."

Itachi paused surprised that he was opening up to someone he didn't know, but he took a deep breath before continuing on with what he had started.

"But I am a person who prefers peace, and I knew the horrors that would be caused because of this revolt. It would weaken the Fire Countries forces, and other nations would notice. I doubt heavily that the other nations would just sit by and watch us have internal battles. They would attack, bringing us into the Fourth Great Ninja War. I didn't agree to what those consequences would be, and I tried my best to bring peace with my clan and to our village. But my tries were to no avail, and so I became a spy for my village's elders… As time went by, we tried our hardest to smooth things over, but the revolt was soon upon us."

Azami widened her eyes in surprise at what Itachi was telling her, shocked at the news of what could have been.

"The Elders found that I would be the only one who would be able to stop my clan from bringing us back into war, and gave me a mission. A mission to wipe out my clan, so that no war would come of us… And I obliged. I killed my entire family, but one… I didn't kill my little brother because of how much he meant to me. I couldn't kill him because my little brother was the only person who hadn't been corrupted by the others… So now he's all alone, destined to hate me. And eventually, he will come to kill me for the loneliness that I have doomed him to live with…"

Azami's jaw dropped, but she quickly shut it. Quickly rushing to Itachi's side, she knelt down beside him, and hugged him tightly.

"Itachi… I'm so sorry that you were given that task, but I'm here for you, if you can handle the emotional baggage that may come with it."

The raven-haired boy widened his eyes, but quickly softened them as he hugged back the strange girl who had surprisingly accepted him despite the horrible deed that he had committed.

"… Thank you Azami."

Itachi and Azami spent the rest of the night getting to know one another.

Azami told the missing-nin about how her life had come to what it was now. She told him of her family, her little sister, and what her family had been before the war had begun. But she not only told him of sad times, but she told him of the happy times that had come since then. She told him of the school, and how she had come to care for the remaining children. Azami told him many things, and for every memory and story that she told, Itachi reciprocated. Itachi told the girl of his brother and of his family. He told her everything that there was to know about Uchiha Itachi, and for once, he surprisingly let his guard down.

The two talked for hours and hours, even after the rain had subsided, and not once in all the words said did Itachi find himself thinking of what he had done or his lonely brother, nor did Azami think about her lost family. It was a perfect friendship for the two. But when morning arrived, Itachi found that he had spent too much time in the small, desolate town, he found himself reluctantly saying goodbye to Azami with a heavy heart.

* * *

Years passed, and the two stayed in touch.

Itachi would visit whenever he had a break from Akatsuki duties, but the one thing he did, was he always made sure to visit on the day that he first met Azami.

Every meeting between the two was the same. They would spend time catching up about what happened around them. Then they would move on to dinner and tea, still chatting about their lives and all the things they felt. And finally night would begin to fall, and Itachi would either be called away or have the strange feeling that someone, most likely Zetsu was watching them making him leave.

Though neither would admit it to the other's face, they loved those short meetings and get togethers more than anything else, and each time Itachi and Azami said their goodbyes, it became harder and harder. The two young adults were steadily, but quickly in love with one another.

* * *

"Itachi… can't you stay just a little longer?"

Itachi turned to Azami, his heart breaking at the sight of her pleading face. He hated to admit it, but he had grown very fond of her, and he hated leaving her. Saying goodbye to Azami nowadays was becoming difficult for him.

"Azami. You know my… work, doesn't allow me to be away for very long. I was surprised when I could get away for this long."

Azami nodded sadly, and took hold of Itachi's hand.

"You're right… I guess I'm being selfish again. But I'll miss you Itachi. Try and come to see me more, okay?"

He smiled at her, a smile that was reserved for Azami and Azami alone.

"If I can, I will because… Because I love you Azami."

The girl's eyes widened as she heard the words escape Itachi's mouth, while Itachi was mentally cursing himself for actually letting that out.

But after the initial shock left her, she couldn't help but throwing her arms around Itachi, hugging him closely.

"I love you too, Itachi."

Relaxing into the hug, he wrapped his arms protectively around her.

"I love you so much, and I never want to say goodbye… But I have to leave Azami, love. I'll be back. I promise."

She nodded, a few tears escaping from her eyes at the realization he would soon have to leave.

Itachi leant down, and kissed her chastely and murmured once more how much he loved her before he finally released her from the hug, leaving her once more.

* * *

Time passed, and Azami and Itachi still had nothing more than short meetings that could last from an hour or so once a week to four to five hours after a month's time had elapsed. But the two were grateful for what time they were given with one another. They loved one another with all their hearts, and that was all that mattered. However, time became short for the two as Itachi's life neared an end, and at the wrong time too.

Azami had become pregnant with Itachi's child, just around the same time that Itachi had become sick. The two knew what had to be done, having come to terms with the situation long ago, but it was still hard.

Tears were shed, hateful words were spoken in spite of raging mood swings, but when it came down to Itachi's last week and Azami's last month. The two spent their last night together in happiness, trying to forget all the things that were bad, and being thankful for all the good things that may come of this.

They were happy for the baby that would be soon to come, deciding to call the boy Sasuke in memory of Itachi's only and favorite living family. Itachi was thankful that he would live long enough for his brother to finally get his revenge and be free of the pain he had to endure with assassinating his entire clan. They were happy that they had met each other, relieving one another from the pressure of their past. But most of all, Azami was thankful that she would have something to remind her of Itachi when he finally left the world of the living.

But when it was finally time to go, Azami didn't want Itachi to leave. She was frantic, near catatonic at the thought of never being able to see Itachi again. But finally she let him go after one last kiss and declaration of love.

* * *

The days dragged on, and Azami couldn't help but miss her one and only love. No one could replace Itachi, and she wouldn't let anyone try. No one could match his laughter, his smile, his endearing conversations. No one could measure up to his brains, his strength, his looks. Itachi was one of those, one in a million guys, and Azami was just glad that he had left a little something of himself behind.

The proud mother walked towards the gate with her son, Sasuke, taking the small, five-year old boy home. He looked exactly like Itachi, though he had Azami's disposition. He had Itachi's brains, but he had his mother's outlook. He was smart, curious, rambunctious, and definitely all the girls and adults loved him at this age. But to Azami, he was especially amazing because he was a living memory of his father, her love.

Smiling as Azami turned on the road to her house, Sasuke let go of her hand and ran towards the gate.

"Sasuke! Wait!"

Azami took after her little boy who was jumping around a tall man with raven hair, much like Itachi.

"Do I know you?"

Azami stood shocked, frozen in her spot for a moment or two before she ran over to take hold of her little boy's hand.

"No I'm sorry. Sasuke here loves strangers when they come into town, and he ran off. Sorry again to bother you!"

The man stared down at the little boy jumping around him, recognizing the looks immediately.

"Itachi."

The man murmured, and turned to look at Azami.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Azami gasped, as she picked up her fidgety child.

"Tanaka Azami."

"Did you know my brother, Itachi?"

Tears came to Azami's eyes as she nodded.

"Yes. Itachi is Sasuke here's father."

The Uchiha nodded, and looked at the girl holding what seemed to be a mini Itachi.

"Hn. I must be getting back to my team, but I'll be sure to come back and check on you and Sasuke."

Azami nodded, and smiled.

"I'd like that, Sasuke. It's nice to meet you after all the stories Itachi told me."

"Hn."

And with that Azami's child's uncle and only other living family leapt off into the night, leaving Azami in a state of happiness remembering the man she loved with all her heart and soul. One day she would be with him again, but until that day, she was going to take care of their child. She would tell him of what a wonderful man his father was, and bring up Sasuke the way that Itachi and her wanted. But when that job was over and done with and Azami was old and dying, she would once again be reunited with her love, and once again see his smile.

**THE END!**

**I hope you liked it okay! Itachi is probably one of the only characters that I actually like with OCs in Naruto… I don't know why, but I just don't like the main characters with OC's. It's too weird for me. I mean, they have a bunch of suitors, or they have someone who in my mind is perfect for them. Why bring in someone that could possibly mess up the loop?**

**But that's off topic.**

**I hope you like this okay, and if you do, please review, and I'll love you forever! However, if you flame, I'm gonna Amaterasu your ass! :P**

**Thanks a Million!**

**~Akira Darely**


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